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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 30, 2004Martin J. WygodGRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: We are back in the interview room, and just for everybody's information down here and up there in the press boxes, obviously, Nakatani can't join us, he is riding Blackdoun in the next race. He is in every race of the Breeders' Cup this year. We will endeavor to have him join us later. Julio Canani saddles Blackdoun and Special Ring in the next Breeders' Cup mile. They won't be with us just yet. We are happy to have with us the very happy owners of Sweet Catomime, Mr. and Mr. Wygod. My first question: Is this any more exciting or doubly gratifying, given the fact that you bread her as well as own her? MRS. WYGOD: Absolutely. To know that we have come into this race as the owner and breeder is far more rewarding than anything I can possibly imagine. I can tell you my heart is still pounding from the excitement. Q. Martin, the Oak Leaf was about as impressive as it gets. It's an utterly powerful performance. I know Julio Canani is always very high on her. Did you think that she could encounter the type of troubles she did today and still beat a field of this caliber so convincingly? MR. WYGOD: You never can feel sure about something like that. She is a very harsh filly, very long-strided. Whenever they have to pull up and be checked like that, you never know if they are going to fire again. She showed what kind of class she had today and what kind of shape she is in, with all due respect to Julio. Q. Marty, correct me if I am wrong, but I think you were very excited about your prospects in the Breeders' Cup juvenile fillies this year, but with a different horse or a different filly. Can you just review that story with us? MR. WYGOD: Early on when they first came to the track, a filly called Compose, Sweet Catomime, they came to the track together, and in the first few words of (inaudible) Sweet Catomime, but she was a much more precocious type, whereas Sweet Catomime was relaxed. We knew Sweet Catomime had a tremendous amount of class. Q. You are a Californian, but a transplanted New Yorker, so you are well familiar with both coasts. What do you all think of Texas? MR. WYGOD: I think Texas is great. Let me tell you, if you win the Breeders' Cup in any state, it's great. MRS. WYGOD: They have also been unbelievably accommodating and friendly. I can't say thank you enough to the great state of Texas because they did a wonderful job. Q. As a team you had a lot of good horses, a lot of money into the game. Is it safe to say this is the pinnacle of your experiences thus far? MRS. WYGOD: Thus far? Yes, I would have to say so. Q. When you say "thus far," is that indicative you are looking for more, perhaps, from this filly next year? MR. WYGOD: We always dream. MRS. WYGOD: I was going to say, you used the word "thus," so I am copying what you said. Yes. Q. Any questions down here? Again, if you are upstairs in one of the press boxes, you may ask a question and we will relay the question down. We have one down here. I came in late. A couple of things: One, if you could talk about the fact that it's a home -bred how special that would be? You spoke the other morning about the second day and all that. Secondly, when you saw the trouble, were you worried at all? What was your vantage point? Could you see what was going on? MR. WYGOD: When she got in trouble, you could see it coming. My glass was shaking. Yes, I was very concerned because she was in very tight, and it looked like maybe sort of coming in a little on it and running up the heels of another loss. It was very nerve-wracking. MR. WYGOD: The home-bred part -- MRS. WYGOD: When you think about the years and years that we have been in the business and how many -- that's really been our philosophy, to breed horses rather than (inaudible) to have a home-bred, winning the Breeders' Cup for us (inaudible) that's absolutely pinnacle. We are thrilled. MR. WYGOD: Her granddad was Sabaki [ph]. We won two races with her, lost her, and then came back around, so we had a lot of confidence in her granddad. We had a lot of success (inaudible). Q. Can you tell us what Julio Canani and Corey Nakatani said to you after the race? MR. WYGOD: Corey said it was a relatively easy to get through that last race, that she had so much talent, and Julio says he loves training her, the easiest training job I have had. Q. You said you could see the trouble coming. I know you like the handicap, and you're also an intelligent race watcher, but probably might think you had the best horse coming in. Before you saw it happen, were you overcome with a momentary fear of dread? Were you wondering what the heck is Corey doing? MR. WYGOD: No, just when you get in that tight, you never know what's going to happen. We knew if we were wide on the outside she would have no excuse. It was obvious there that we were going to get in a tight horse. She handled it fine and came out of it. She made a run in the stretch and showed what kind of talent she has. Q. The track has upgraded to fast, but apparently there is still some moisture in it. Were you worried about the prospects of a wet track, again, that she had raced over it? She is by Stormcat, so in theory she could have liked it. Was that something that concerned you at all? MR. WYGOD: The thing that concerned me was when I was walking around in the mud out there, I thought I was going to go down. It's very slippery. Q. You can afford a new suit and clothes now. Any other questions? Could you describe the thought processes (inaudible) Julio even (inaudible) successful? What went through your mind (inaudible). MR. WYGOD: Well, Julio, 2 for the price of 1, you get an excellent trainer that's really demonstrated his ability with, let's say, not the best horses winning the biggest races. He has been to the Breeders' Cup several times. You also get entertainment. Q. I am going to ask a question just because it seems like it's asked at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winning owner every year, and nobody has asked it yet. I will jump in. In an ideal scenario, ideal world, would you be thinking Kentucky Oaks, or given her running style and the other power that she has displayed today, in fact, her final time of 1:41 and 3/5s is the fastest Breeders' Cup in the juvenile fillies history. There was one in the Belmont that went a little faster. Is this a horse you might harbor some derby hopes for or is that too far down the road? MR. WYGOD: Who knows? We are just going to go day by day and see how she comes out of this, give her some time off. Q. Just curious if the dam is very big herself, because this filly has so much size and scope to her. Just wondering about the mare. MR. WYGOD: The dam Sweet Life is a very scoping mare, and you can watch her run all day. She never put on that much weight, but I would say that the dam was over 16 hands. This one looks like she is already a 3 -, 4-year old. She is very impressive. Q. Sweet Catomime ran by three and three quarters length. (Inaudible) ran faster at 1:41 at Belmont. It was a one-turn race. Any final questions for Mr. and Mrs. Wygod? Well, congratulations to you both. The day is all downhill from here. Go enjoy yourselves and best of luck to you and your trainer and jockey, and most of all, your filly down the line. This is a great taste of hopefully what's to come down the line. MR. WYGOD: Thank you very much. End of FastScriptsÂ…. |
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